Newbie assistance

J

Jack

Hi;

I am working in PowerPoint (version x) for the first time. I am
struggling with making use of the portion of the interface on the left.
it shows just the text of slides.

My first question - could someone please tell me what this part of the
interface is called? I'd be able to look around in Help if I knew what
this area was called. (Area 51? ;)

One of the things that I am trying to do here is move a slide. I can
click on the little slide icon here and drag it part way through the
other slides, but only part of the way down. Any suggestions? (I know
about using the Slide Sorter view, but it would easy to stay 'here'.)

Thank you, Jack
 
S

Steve Rindsberg

My first question - could someone please tell me what this part of the
interface is called? I'd be able to look around in Help if I knew what
this area was called. (Area 51? ;)
Click to expand...

Area 51's good but I think MS might think of it as the Outline pane.
One of the things that I am trying to do here is move a slide. I can
click on the little slide icon here and drag it part way through the
other slides, but only part of the way down. Any suggestions? (I know
about using the Slide Sorter view, but it would easy to stay 'here'.)
Click to expand...

If you drag a bit below or above the last visible slide, almost as though
you're trying to drag the slide off the top or bottom of Area 5...er, the
outline pane, it should scroll so you can drag farther.


================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
 
J

Jack

Thank you Steve! Finding out the proper name for this part of PPT has
been very helpful. But I think I might have to stick with Area 51.

I can drag (I see the moving hairline) through *parts* of the
presentation but not all of it. In my case I can drag slide 5 anywhere
from slide 1 through slide 12. Then the hairline disappears until I
reach slide 26! I can then drag the hairline anywhere from slide 26 to
the end of the presentation.

Okay, maybe the whole area is called the Outline pane and just my
slides 13 - 25 are Area 51! ;)

Also, can you make any suggestion about another shortcut key or clever
way for collapsing/expanding parts of the outline? I use a Powerbook
and turning on Num Lock isn't practicable.

Thank you again for the name! That allowed me to do some good exploring
on my own.

Jack
 
J

Jack

Bob;

Thanks! The control click works great.

Any ideas about my original problem? (This will teach me to go off on a
tangent in a post.)

I still would like to figure out why I can't click and drag slides to
some portions of the Outline Pane (Outline Pain in this case...)

Jack
 
C

CyberTaz

I don't know what to tell you on that one, Jack. I've created several test
files of ~60 each on both Mac & PC. In each I've been able to drag any slide
to any location in the order. Since I can't reproduce the problem & haven't
dealt with it before I'm at a bit of a loss.

Have you tried just dropping the slide in the appropriate spot even though
the insertion line isn't visible? It could be as simple as a video issue -
although it seems unlikely if the dissappearance conistantly occurs within
the exact same range of slides. Will let you know if I come up with anything
more.
 
S

Steve Rindsberg

I can drag (I see the moving hairline) through *parts* of the
presentation but not all of it. In my case I can drag slide 5 anywhere
from slide 1 through slide 12. Then the hairline disappears until I
reach slide 26! I can then drag the hairline anywhere from slide 26 to
the end of the presentation.
Click to expand...

I'd tend to go with Cybertaz' suggestion. Drop it, hairline or no, and see if
it works. Otherwise, Area 51 or perhaps Twilight Zone?
Also, can you make any suggestion about another shortcut key or clever
way for collapsing/expanding parts of the outline? I use a Powerbook
and turning on Num Lock isn't practicable.
Click to expand...

On the PC (I'm not where I can get at the Mac right now), View, Toolbars, turn
on the Outlining toolbar. That has buttons for this.

Thank you again for the name! That allowed me to do some good exploring
on my own.

Jack
Click to expand...

================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
 
J

Jack

Thanks Bob! That context menu is great!
Unfortunately the shortcuts you seek involve the numeric kypd & custom
keystrokes is a luxury PPt apparently can't afford. Have you tried the
contextual menu? Ctrl+click in the Outline Pane will pop one up with Expand
& Collapse right in the middle.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
Click to expand...
 
J

Jack

Dropping regardless of the hairline doesn't do anything.

More info (based on this behavior, I'm now leaning towards calling this
part of the GUI "the outer limits"!) in some cases I can only drag the
hairline part of the way into (I am not making this up and have only
had iced tea to drink tonight, so far...) of a subsequent/preceeding
slide. And I have seen that there are portions of the presentation that
are off limits and other parts (not contiguous) where the hairline
appears and the move will work again.

Would me emailing a copy of this presentation for any of you to take a
look at be reasonable? I don't know if that kind of thing is done
through these newsgroups so please forgive me if this "just isn't
done".
 
C

CyberTaz

Hi jack -

I don't know exactly what I'd be looking for other than to see if the
problem persists on my rig - could also try it on a PC. If you want to send
me a copy you can decipher my email by removing the word 'type', converting
the 'AT' and the 'dot' - *also* be sure to put this *only* in the subject
line:

x3q2pptjack

In order to get through my spam filter. Otherwise it will go directly to my
private 'Area 51' :)

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
 
J

Jack

Taz/Bob;

That'd be great. How can I see your email address? I tried clicking on
your profile but that address doesn't have the word 'type' nor "AT" nor
"dot" so I don't think that I'm looking at the one you meant.

Jack
 
C

CyberTaz

Sorry - I wasn't thinking... I use a separate account from work & home, so
it depends on which message you're looking at. This one reads as:

(e-mail address removed)

Remove the 'only' and the first dot, use the same Subject: x3q2pptjack

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
 
C

CyberTaz

OK Jack -

**Preliminary Report:

After an hour of fiddling with the file, I haven't a clue :)

**Detailed Analysis:

My 'No Drop' zone is *different* than what yours is - In fact, I have 2. One
spans from slide 9 to slide 22, the other from slide 55 to slide 78. Same
result in Outline Pane or Outline View, which is understandable. This is in
PPt 2004 (11.2.4, fully updated) on a G5 Dual 2GHz, OS X 10.4.7. I played
with it a few minutes on a PC in 2003 at work & didn't notice the problem.
However I wasn't sure what I was looking for so didn't really give it a
valid test. Will try again tomorrow.

The only anomaly I can find is a blue arc that extends off the slides and is
also present in the Slide Master. Selecting it in the Master produces a
bounding box that is considerably bigger than a slide, It apparently defines
the curve of the light blue graphic. However, even if I delete it the
behavior persists. It evidently is the result of whatever you're using as a
design template - which one I can't identify. Whether it has anything to do
with the drag 'n' drop issue I don't know.

I've also output to a Word doc, then imported to a new PPt with same result,
so I doubt that the Design Template is the cause - it seems to be something
about PPt, related, perhaps to the volume of content per slide? - Don't
know.

**Good
I have discovered a work-around other than Slide Sorter View (which is also
do-able). If you click in either Outline then Cmd+A to select all slides
followed by Ctrl+Click (within the highlighted area) >Collapse. Once all
slides are collapsed click to deselect and the problem mysteriously
*disappears* - you can drag any slide & drop it anywhere.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
 
C

CyberTaz

Follow-Up:

Tried it in PPt 2003/WinXP & confirmed that the issue is *not* present. I
can take any slide to any location & the Insertiion Line remains visible
wherever it should.

That seems to rule out any hint of file corruption, errant content, etc. &
puts the onus on the Mac. Still not clear definition since you are using X &
I'm using 2004, so it could be a PPt X bug that has never been noticed/fixed
carried over into 2004 *or* it could be an OS X issue - I'm tending toward
ruling out a graphics flaw, especially since we're on completely different
Mac models. Either way it's beyond my abilitiy to analyze further, but I
will kick it up to the next level.

In the mean time you should be OK with the workaround in my previous post.
 
J

Jack

I'm not surprised that the "no drop" zone moved. I have added more
slides since my original post about that. Sorry, should have mentioned
that. i hope that didn't hang you up for longl

I have one more clue to add. A slide can be drug to the point of
another slide that contains a table, but not 'into' that slide nor past
it.

Also, the format can be found in Project
Gallery/Presentations/Content/Training.

Thanks for all the help Bob, the workaround makes it bearable and I
appreciate you passing this on for eventual resolution.
 
S

Steve Rindsberg

Sorry to have disappeared on this one, but it seemed that Bob had things well in
hand, and besides, I was out of office, no Mac at hand, and only the world's slowest
28kbps net connection to work with. If you'd emailed me the file when you offered,
I'd have just finished downloading it <g>.

================================================
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
 
C

CyberTaz

Hi Steve -

Jack did send me a copy of the file & I have confirmed the problem using PPt
2004 (he's running X). I also tried the file on WinXP PPt 2003 and *could
not* replicate. Same file worked fine without having to collapse the
outline.

It truly appears to be a Mac PPt bug as I have been able to create a new PPt
& experience the same problem.

Will provide you with copies through the private ng if you wish.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
 
S

Steve Rindsberg

Jack did send me a copy of the file & I have confirmed the problem using PPt
2004 (he's running X). I also tried the file on WinXP PPt 2003 and *could
not* replicate. Same file worked fine without having to collapse the
outline.

It truly appears to be a Mac PPt bug as I have been able to create a new PPt
& experience the same problem.

Will provide you with copies through the private ng if you wish.
Click to expand...

It seems you've tested it more thoroughly than I'd have had the time or PPT
versions for, so unless there'a a need to have it replicated on another Mac,
let's go with your results.
 

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